Song:Surf's Up
Album:Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Of course most music fans know Brian Wilson as the leader of The Beach Boys. You probably know that he quit touring with them in 1965 and was replaced by Bruce Johnston. He continued to record at home. That's where Pet Sounds was recorded. Then he met the equally enigmatic composer Van Dyke Parks and they started to write and record the album Smile. It's not clear what Wilson's plans were because the album was cancelled before completion. Some of the songs like Surf's Up surfaced as Beach Boys songs. And there was even a Beach Boys album called Smile. But for many years fans speculated on what Brian Wilson's album Smile was supposed to be. The idea to revisit Smile came after the 2002 album Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds Live. Darian Sahanaja of Wilson's band helped him complete and re-record the original tracks. Parks was brought in because Wilson couldn't remember a lot of the original songs. So Sahanaja did much of the coordination trying to figure out what Wilson wanted to include on the album. Once the basic tracks were finished, Wilson and his band which is mostly Sahanaja and his band Wondermints performed Smile on Feb. 20, 2004 at Royal Festival Hall in London. Paul McCartney and George Martin were among those in attendance. This concert was filmed for DVD release and it can be streamed on Youtube. Then Wilson and the band returned to the studio and recorded the album. Brian Wilson Presents Smile was released on Nonesuch Sept. 2004. Wilson toured to support it. The album was well received and it even won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Showtime broadcast the documentary Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile that was part of a 2DVD release which also included an all star tribute to Wilson. That's out of print but the doc can be streamed on Youtube. The album is available as a budget CD. Wilson continues to record and he toured last year. Here's Brian Wilson performing Surf's Up 2004. I think this is from the DVD release and the full concert can be viewed on Youtube.
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